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UNIVERSITY  OF  ILLINOIS 

Agricultural  Experiment  Station 


BULLETIN  No.  260 


THE  SOYBEAN  CROP  FOR  FATTENING 
WESTERN  LAMBS 

BY  W.  G.  KAMMLADE  AND  A.  K.  MACKEY 


URBANA,  ILLINOIS,  MARCH,  1925 


IN  MANY  SECTIONS  of  the  country  shelled  corn  and 
alfalfa  hay  have  come  to  be  considered  a  standard  ration 
for  fattening  western  lambs.  A  number  of  experiments 
have  shown  clover  hay  to  be  practically  equal  to  alfalfa 
hay  of  the  same  quality  for  this  purpose.  These  simple 
home-grown  rations  are  seldom  excelled  unless  it  be  thru 
the  use  of  corn  silage  and  a  protein  concentrate  in  addition. 

Legumes  such  as  alfalfa  and  clover,  however,  require 
non-acid  soils,  and  many  farms  are  therefore  not  suited 
to  their  production.  Because  soybeans  will  grow  on  soils 
deficient  in  lime  they  have  been. recommended  as  a  satis- 
factory source  of  protein,  in  place  of  alfalfa  or  clover,  as 
a  part  of  the  ration  for  fattening  lambs. 

These  experiments  show  that  soybean  hay,  altho 
not  fully  equal  to  alfalfa  hay,  may  be  used  in  place  of 
alfalfa  in  the  rations  of  fattening  lambs.  No  considera- 
tion has  been  given,  however,  to  the  question  of  relative 
yields  per  acre  of  the  two  crops,  soil  requirements,  or 
labor  requirements;  so  far  as  these  matters  are  concerned, 
the  individual  farmer  who  is  fattening  lambs  will  have  to 
be  his  own  judge  as  to  the  desirability  of  substituting 
soybeans  for  alfalfa. 

A  brief  summary  of  the  results  obtained  in  this 
experiment  will  be  found  on  pages  206  and  207. 


THE  SOYBEAN  CROP  FOR  FATTENING 
WESTERN  LAMBS 

By  \V.  G.  KAMMLADE,  Assistant  Chief  in  Sheep  Husbandry,  and 
A.  K.  MACKEY,  First  Assistant  in  Animal  Husbandry 

The  marked  increase  in  the  production  of  soybeans  in  Illinois  in 
the  last  few  years  has  brought  up  sharply  the  question  of  the  place  and 
value  of  this  crop  in  the  rations  of  farm  animals.  From  the  standpoint 
of  good  farming  practice,  the  way  in  which  a  legume  crop  is  used  may 
be  quite  as  important  as  its  production.  The  value  of  clover  and  alfalfa 
for  sheep  and  lamb  feeding  is  already  established,  but  there  has  been 
little  study  of  the  value  of  soybeans  for  this  purpose. 

The  two  experiments  reported  in  this  bulletin  were  undertaken  to 
determine  the  usefulness  of  soybean  hay,  soybean  straw,  whole  soy- 
beans, ground  soybeans,  and  soybean  oil  meal  when  fed  with  shelled 
corn,  for  fattening  western  lambs. 

Six  lots  of  25  lambs  each  were  used  in  each  of  the  two  experiments, 
300  animals  in  all.  They  were  selected  on  the  Chicago  market  from 
shipments  of  Idaho  lambs  and  were  graded  as  choice  feeders.  In  gen- 
eral, they  were  representative  of  lambs  produced  by  mutton  type  rams 
crossed  on  ewes  of  fine  wool  blood. 

The  first  test  extended  from  October  25,  1922,  to  January  29,  1923; 
the  second  from  October  29,  1923,  to  January  21,  1924;  the  time  during 
which  many  lambs  of  this  character  are  fattened  for  market. 

SOYBEANS  FED  IN  FIVE  DIFFERENT  COMBINATIONS 

In  the  first  experiment,  soybeans  in  five  different  combinations  were 
fed  to  five  different  lots  of  sheep.  Another  lot  was  fed  alfalfa  hay  and 
shelled  corn  by  way  of  supplying  a  standard  basis  for  comparison.  All 
grains,  roughages,  and  refused  feeds  were  weighed  separately  for  each  lot. 

RATIONS  FED 

Lot  i  Lot  2  Lot  3 

Shelled  corn  Shelled  corn  Shelled  corn,  4  parts1 

Alfalfa  hay  Soybean  hay  Whole  soybeans,  1  part 

Soybean  straw 

Lot  4  Lots  Lot  6 

Shelled  corn,  4  parts  Shelled  corn,  4  parts  Shelled  corn,  4  parts 

*Ground  soybeans,  1  part          Soybean  oil  meal,  1  part  Linseed  oil  meal,   1  part 

*Soybean  straw  Soybean  straw  Soybean  straw 

(* Changed  in  second  experiment,  see  text.) 
'In  all  lots,  the  proportions  are  by  weight. 

In  the  second  experiment,  the  rations  were  the  same  except  that  in 
Lot  4  ground  soybeans  and  soybean  straw  were  replaced  with  soybean 

199 


200  BULLETIN  No.  260  [March, 

oil  meal  one  part  and  oat  straw,  in  order  to  afford  direct  comparison 
with  Lot  5  as  to  the  relative  values  of  oat  and  soybean  straws. 

The  corn  used  was  No.  2  yellow.  The  alfalfa  hay  was  grown  on 
the  University  farm  and  was  of  choice  quality. 

The  soybeans,  soybean  hay,  and  soybean  straw  were  of  the  Mid- 
west variety.  The  soybeans  were  cut  for  hay  when  the  beans  were  well 
formed,  that  is,  about  two-thirds  or  three-fourths  developed.  The  hay 
was  leafy  and  of  good  quality,  and  was  the  best  obtainable  in  this 
locality.  The  soybean  straw  and  oat  straw  were  also  of  good  quality. 
The  soybean  oil  meal  (the  residue  or  meal  remaining  after  a  large  per- 
centage of  the  oil  has  been  removed)  was  obtained  from  a  factory  using 
a  pressure  process  of  oil  extraction.  The  only  other  feed  used  was  old 
process  linseed  oil  meal. 

Both  grain  and  roughage  were  fed  twice  a  day  and  were  divided 
equally  for  the  two  feedings.  Grain  was  fed  first,  and  as  soon  as  it  was 
eaten  roughage  was  placed  in  the  racks.  The  appetites  of  the  lambs 
were  carefully  watched  and  just  enough  roughage  fed  so  that  all  but 
the  very  coarse  stems  were  eaten.  Water  and  salt  were  available  at  all 
times. 

In  each  experiment  the  lambs  were  at  the  farm  a  few  days  before 
the  experiment  began,  and  during  this  time  were  fed  alfalfa  hay  only, 
each  lamb  receiving  about  1.25  pounds  daily. 

All  lots  were  bedded  with  straw  during  the  first  three  weeks  of  the 
first  experiment.  After  that  time,  the  lots  fed  soybean  hay,  soybean  straw, 
and  oat  straw  were  bedded  with  the  refuse.  Lot  1  was  bedded  with 
straw  thruout  the  experiment.  For  some  time  it  was  thought  advisable 
to  sprinkle  over  the  straw  a  small  amount  of  dip,  but  this  was  discon- 
tinued because  the  lambs  showed  no  inclination  to  eat  the  straw  or  the 
refuse  used  as  bedding.  In  the  second  experiment,  the  lambs  were 
bedded  with  refuse  thruout  the  experiment  except  in  Lot  1,  where  oat 
straw  was  used. 

Individual  weights  of  all  lambs  were  taken  on  three  consecutive 
days  at  the  beginning  of  the  experiments  and  at  the  close.  The  averages 
of  these  weights  for  each  animal  were  taken  as  the  initial  and  the  final 
weights,  respectively.  Individual  weights  were  also  taken  at  the  end  of 
each  28-day  period. 

RESULTS  OF  FIRST  EXPERIMENT:    96  DAYS 

The  lambs  of  all  six  lots  at  the  beginning  of  the  experiment  were 
very  uniform  as  regards  both  initial  weight  and  condition.  As  shown  in 
Table  1,  the  lightest  lot  averaged  only  .9  of  a  pound  less  than  the 
heaviest;  moreover  the  weights  of  the  individual  lambs  in  the  various 
lots  corresponded  closely. 


1925]  THE  SOYBEAN  CROP  FOR  FATTENING  WESTERN  LAMBS  201 

SOYBEAN  HAY  AS  A  SUBSTITUTE  FOR  ALFALFA 

At  the  end, of  the  96-day  feeding  period,  Lot  1,  fed  shelled  corn  and 
alfalfa  hay,  averaged  90.8  pounds.  This  was  more  than  any  of  the  other 
lots,  altho  Lot  2,  fed  shelled  corn  and  soybean  hay,  was  practically  the 
same,  those  lambs  averaging  90.4  pounds.  In  other  words,  the  corn-and- 
alfalfa-fed  lambs  made  an  average  gain  of  .34  pound  daily,  or  a  total 
gain  during  the  period  of  32.4  pounds  to  a  lamb;  while  the  lambs  fed 
corn  and  soybean  hay  made  .33  pound  daily,  or  a  total  gain  of  31.9 
pounds. 

The  lambs  in  the  soybean  lot  received  .03  pound  more  of  shelled 
corn  per  head  daily  that  those  in  the  alfalfa  lot.  They  also  received 
more  hay,  the  lambs  in  the  alfalfa  lot  using  1.45  pounds  of  hay  per  head 
daily  and  in  the  soybean  lot,  1.74  pounds.  The  soybean  lot  refused 
approximately  25  percent  of  the  hay;  hence  it  was  necessary  to  feed 
considerably  more  hay  to  this  lot  than  to  the  alfalfa  lot. 

A  further  comparison  of  these  lots  shows  that  to  produce  100 
pounds  of  gain  the  lambs  fed  soybean  hay  were  fed  13.9  pounds  more 
corn  and  93.1  pounds  more  hay  than  those  fed  alfalfa;  the  alfalfa  lot 
using  323.4  pounds  of  shelled  corn  and  431.4  pounds  of  hay  and  the 
soybean  lot,  337.3  pounds  of  shelled  corn  and  524.5  pounds  of  hay.  It  is 
interesting  to  note,  however,  that  the  amounts  of  alfalfa  hay  and  soybean 
hay  actually  consumed  per  100  pounds  of  gain  were  exactly  the  same, 
the  much  greater  amount  of  refuse  from  the  soybean  hay  being  chiefly 
responsible  for  so  large  a  difference  between  the  two  hays. 

No  ADVANTAGE  IN  GRINDING  BEANS 

The  only  difference  between  the  rations  of  Lots  3  and  4,  it  will  be 
noted,  was  the  form  in  which  the  soybeans  were  fed;  to  Lot  3  they  were 
fed  whole,  to  Lot  4  ground.  Since  the  lambs  gained  less  in  Lot  4  than 
in  Lot  3,  and  more  corn,  soybeans,  and  soybean  straw  were  required  to 
produce  100  pounds  of  gain,  there  would  seem  to  be  no  advantage  in 
grinding  soybeans  for  fattening  lambs.  Moreover,  the  whole  beans 
seemed  to  be  relished  more  than  the  ground  beans,  altho  the  animals 
in  both  lots  tended  to  go  "off  feed"  during  periods  of  warm  weather. 
There  was  no  scouring  in  either  lot  at  these  times,  but  the  lambs  did 
not  have  good  appetites.  The  differences,  however,  between  the  lots  in 
feed  requirements  and  gains  were  not  large  enough  to  seem  significant. 

SOYBEAN  MEAL  MORE  PALATABLE  THAN  WHOLE  OR  GROUND  BEANS 

Lot  5  received  soybean  oil  meal  as  a  supplement.  A  somewhat 
greater  gain  per  head  was  made  by  this  lot  than  by  Lots  3  and  4,  to 
which  whole  soybeans  and  ground  soybeans  were  fed.  The  amount  of 
concentrates  required  to  produce  100  pounds  gain  was  less  than  with 
Lot  4,  where  ground  soybeans  were  fed,  and  more  than  with  Lot  3, 


202 


BULLETIN  No.  260 


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1925]  THE  SOYBEAN  CROP  FOR  FATTENING  WESTERN  LAMBS  203 

where  whole  soybeans  were  used.  The  soybean  straw  required  in 
making  100  pounds  of  gain  was  808.7  pounds  in  Lot  5,  828.4  pounds  in 
Lot  3,  and  855.2  pounds  in  Lot  4. 

The  lambs  getting  soybean  oil  meal  had  good  appetites  at  all  times 
and  were  never  "off  feed."  Soybeans  in  this  form  seemed  much  more 
palatable  than  either  the  whole  or  the  ground  soybeans.  Altho  no 
marked  superiority  was  shown  by  soybean  oil  meal  as  compared  with 
whole  or  ground  soybeans,  still  because  of  its  greater  palatability  and 
the  slightly  faster  gains  which  it  produced,  it  should  be  given  a  little 
better  rating  as  a  supplement  than  the  whole  or  ground  beans.  The 
lambs  fed  soybean  oil  meal  were  more  desirably  finished  than  those  fed 
the  whole  or  ground  beans. 

LITTLE  CHOICE  BETWEEN  SOYBEAN  AND  LINSEED  OIL  MEAL 

Lots  5  and  6  give  a  direct  comparison  between  soybean  oil  meal 
and  linseed  oil  meal  as  supplements.  Any  significant  difference  between 
these  supplements  would  be  expected  to  show  when  they  were  used 
with  a  roughage  such  as  soybean  straw,  but  the  results  with  them  were 
almost  identical.  No  difference  in  the  palatability  of  soybean  oil  meal 
and  linseed  oil  meal  was  apparent.  Neither  was  there  any  important 
difference  in  the  rate  of  gain.  The  lambs  fed  linseed  oil  meal  required 
3.1  pounds  more  corn,  .7  pound  more  meal,  and  7.8  pounds  more  soy- 
bean straw  than  the  lambs  fed  soybean  meal,  to  produce  100  pounds 
gain,  but  these  differences  are  so  small  as  to  be  of  little  importance. 
Judging  from  this  part  of  the  experiment,  one  would  select  either  soy- 
bean oil  meal  or  linseed  oil  meal  according  to  price.  Market  men  con- 
sidered Lot  5  a  little  more  desirably  finished  than  Lot  6,  but  the  dif- 
ference was  not  great  enough  to  make  any  difference  in  the  selling  price. 

SOYBEAN  CROP  BEST  FED  AS  HAY 

The  differences  between  the  lots  receiving  shelled  corn  and  soybean 
straw  supplemented  with  either  soybeans,  soybean  oil  meal,  or  linseed 
oil  meal  have  been  noted.  A  comparison  of  any  or  all  of  these  lots  with 
either  Lot  1,  fed  shelled  corn  and  alfalfa  hay,  or  Lot  2,  fed  shelled  corn 
and  soybean  hay,  shows  the  hay  rations  much  superior  in  rate  of  gain 
and  in  feed  required  to  produce  the  gain.  When  soybean  straw  replaced 
either  alfalfa  or  soybean  hay,  the  gains  were  slower,  and  there  was  a 
much  larger  consumption  of  concentrates  to  a  pound  of  gain. 

RESULTS  OF  SECOND  EXPERIMENT:  84  DAYS 

There  are  two  important  differences  between  the  first  and  second 
experiments.  In  the  first  experiment  Lot  4  received  shelled  corn,  ground 
soybeans,  and  soybean  straw;  in  the  second,  shelled  corn,  soybean  oil 


204 


BULLETIN  No.  260 


[March, 


1925]  THE  SOYBEAN  CROP  FOR  FATTENING  WESTERN  LAMBS  205 

meal,  and  oat  straw.  This  change  was  made  because  in  the  first  experi- 
ment no  advantage  was  shown  in  grinding  the  soybeans. 

The  other  difference  is  in  the  length  of  the  feeding  period.  The  first 
experiment  covered  96  days;  the  second  only  84  days  because  the  lambs 
in  this  experiment  started  a  little  heavier,  their  initial  weight  averaging 
about  62  pounds  as  compared  with  58.5  pounds  for  the  lambs  in  the 
first  experiment. 

In  Table  2  is  given  a  summary  of  the  data  for  the  1923-24  experi- 
ment. By  means  of  this  table  comparisons  similar  to  those  already 
noted  in  discussing  the  1922-23  experiment  may  be  made. 

ALFALFA  HAY  PRODUCED  BETTER  FINISH 

The  lambs  fed  shelled  corn  and  alfalfa  hay  gained  a  little  more 
rapidly  than  those  fed  shelled  corn  and  soybean  hay.  The  alfalfa  lot 
required  364.8  pounds  of  shelled  corn  and  418.4  pounds  of  hay  to 
produce  100  pounds  of  gain;  the  soybean  lot  required  361.2  pounds  of 
corn  and  495.5  pounds  of  hay.  This  means  an  advantage  of  3.6  pounds 
of  corn  and  a  disadvantage  of  77.1  pounds  of  hay  for  the  soybean-hay 
lot  compared  with  the  alfalfa-hay  lot.  Market  men  considered  the 
alfalfa  lot  a  little  more  desirable  in  finish  than  the  soybean  lot. 

SOYBEAN  MEAL  SUPERIOR  TO  WHOLE  BEANS 

Lots  3,  5,  and  6  show  essentially  the  same  results  as  in  the  first 
experiment.  Whole  soybeans,  the  supplement  used  for  Lot  3,  were  not 
so  palatable  as  soybean  oil  meal  used  for  Lot  5.  The  rate  of  gain  was 
less  with  the  whole  soybeans  than  with  the  soybean  oil  meal,  .24  pound 
a  head  daily  with  the  whole  beans  as  compared  with  .26  pound  with 
the  soybean  oil  meal.  To  produce  100  pounds  of  gain  the  lambs  receiv- 
ing whole  soybeans  were  fed  7  pounds  more  corn,  2.8  pounds  more  sup- 
plement, and  56.2  pounds  more  soybean  straw  than  was  fed  to  the 
lambs  receiving  soybean  oil  meal,  and  they  were  not  so  well  finished  at 
the  close  of  the  experiment. 

Altho  the  difference  is  not  great,  soybean  oil  meal  in  this  experi- 
ment, as  in  the  first  experiment,  fed  with  shelled  corn  and  soybean 
straw,  excelled  whole  soybeans  as  a  supplement,  both  in  palatability 
and  in  gains  produced. 

ESSENTIALLY  THE  SAME  RESULTS  WITH  LINSEED  AND  SOYBEAN  OIL  MEAL 

Soybean  oil  meal  proved  to  be  a  little  more  efficient  than  linseed 
oil  meal  in  the  production  of  gains  and  in  the  amount  of  corn,  supple- 
ment, and  soybean  straw  required  for  100  pounds  of  gain.  Eight  and 
nine-tenths  pounds  less  of  corn,  2.5  pounds  less  of  supplement,  and 
22  pounds  less  of  roughage  was  used  by  the  lambs  fed  soybean  oil  meal 


206  BULLETIN  No.  260  [March, 

(Lot  5)  than  by  those  fed  linseed  oil  meal  (Lot  6),  to  make  100  pounds 
of  gain. 

The  finish  on  Lot  5  was  somewhat  more  desirable  than  that  on 
Lot  6.  However,  the  differences  between  the  two  rations  were  not  great 
enough  to  warrant  saying  definitely  that  soybean  oil  meal  is  superior  to 
linseed  oil  meal.  Judging  from  this  experiment,  as  from  the  first  experi- 
ment, one  would  expect  essentially  the  same  result  from  either  ration 
and  would  purchase  the  supplement  that  was  the  cheaper. 

SOYBEAN  STRAW  COMPARED  WITH  OAT  STRAW 

Lots  4  and  5  were  fed  the  same  grain  rations:  namely,  shelled  corn 
and  soybean  oil  meal,  with  oat  straw  as  the  roughage  for  Lot  4  and 
soybean  straw  for  Lot  5.  The  gains  in  the  lot  fed  soybean  straw  were 
greater  than  those  in  the  lot  fed  oat  straw.  Market  men  considered 
the  oat-straw  lot  the  poorest  finished  of  the  six  lots  in  the  experiment. 
The  lambs  were  not  well  fleshed;  eight  of  the  twenty-five  had  to  be  sold 
as  "culls"  because  they  were  not  satisfactorily  fattened. 

It  will  be  noted  also  from  Table  2  that  there  was  a  considerable 
difference  in  the  amount  of  feed  required  to  produce  100  pounds  of  gain 
in  these  lots.  The  oat-straw  lot  required  381.7  pounds  of  shelled  corn 
and  95.4  pounds  of  soybean  oil  meal;  the  soybean-straw  lot,  350.1 
pounds  of  shelled  corn  and  87.4  pounds  of  soybean  oil  meal.  This  was 
a  difference  of  31.6  pounds  of  corn  and  8  pounds  of  soybean  oil  meal, 
or  a  total  of  39.6  pounds  of  concentrates  in  favor  of  Lot  5.  The  rough- 
age fed  in  the  production  of  100  pounds  of  gain  was  591  pounds  of  oat 
straw  in  Lot  4  and  777.3  pounds  of  soybean  straw  in  Lot  5,  or  186.3 
pounds  more  soybean  straw  than  oat  straw.  Lot  5,  however,  actually 
consumed  only  70.2  pounds  more  of  soybean  straw  than  Lot  4  did  of 
oat  straw  for  each  100  pounds  of  gain,  a  large  amount  of  the  soybean 
straw  being  refused  because  of  its  coarseness.  The  soybean  straw 
seemed  to  be  more  palatable  than  the  oat  straw.  Oat  straw  was  not  a 
satisfactory  roughage,  even  tho  a  nitrogenous  supplement  was  fed. 

SUMMARY  AND  CONCLUSIONS 

In  these  experiments  shelled  corn  and  alfalfa  hay  proved  somewhat 
superior  to  shelled  corn  and  soybean  hay  for  fattening  western  lambs, 
the  former  ration  resulting  in  slightly  greater  total  gains  and  in  lower 
feed  consumption  for  100  pounds  of  gain.  In  both  rations  the  amounts 
of  corn  required  for  100  pounds  of  gain  were  practically  equal,  but  the 
hay  required  was  about  20  percent  greater  with  soybean  hay  than  with 
alfalfa  hay. 

The  edible  portion  of  the  soybean  hay  was  apparently  as  palatable 
as  alfalfa  hay  and  as  efficient  in  producing  gains,  but  there  was  a  much 
larger  amount  of  refuse  from  the  soybean  hay. 


19251 


THE  SOYBEAN  CROP  FOR  FATTENING  WESTERN  LAMBS 


207 


As  between  hay  and  threshed  straw,  the  soybean  plant  is  best  fed 
to  fattening  lambs  in  the  form  of  hay,  even  tho  the  beans  or  other  sup- 
plement is  used  with  the  straw.  Either  shelled  corn  and  alfalfa  hay  or 
shelled  corn  and  soybean  hay  were  distinctly  superior  to  any  of  the 
rations  in  which  soybean  straw  was  used,  as  judged  by  rate  of  gain  and 
by  the  amounts  of  concentrates  and  roughage  required  for  100  pounds 
of  gain. 

There  was  no  advantage  whatever  in  grinding  the  soybeans. 

Soybeans,  whole  or  ground,  were  not  so  palatable  as  soybean  oil 
meal  or  linseed  oil  meal,  and  gains  were  somewhat  slower  when  they 
were  used  as  a  supplement  than  when  soybean  oil  meal  or  linseed  oil 
meal  was  used. 

Soybean  oil  meal  used  as  a  supplement  to  shelled  corn  and  soybean 
straw  resulted  in  somewhat  more  rapid  gains  and  in  the  use  of  slightly 
less  feed  for  100  pounds  of  gain,  than  did  linseed  oil  meal. 

Oat  straw  fed  as  a  roughage  with  shelled  corn  and  soybean  oil  meal 
produced  less  gain  than  soybean  straw  fed  with  the  same  concentrates. 

In  these  experiments  with  western  lambs,  with  corn  at  65c  a  bushel 
and  alfalfa  at  $20  a  ton  soybean  hay  had  a  value  of  approximately  $17 
a  ton  for  fattening  lambs.  With  the  same  prices  for  corn  and  alfalfa 
hay  and  $50  a  ton  for  the  nitrogenous  supplements,  soybean  straw  for 
fattening  lambs  was  worth  about  $5  a  ton. 

Altho,  as  stated  previously,  these  experiments  show  that  soybean 
hay,  while  not  fully  equal  to  alfalfa  hay,  may  be  used  in  place  of  alfalfa 
hay  in  the  rations  of  fattening  lambs,  no  consideration  has  been  given 
to  the  questions  of  relative  yields  per  acre  of  the  two  crops,  soil  require- 

TABLE  3. — PERCENTAGE  COMPOSITION  OF  FEEDS  USED  IN  EXPERIMENTS 
(Analyses  made  by  Division  of  Animal  Nutrition) 


Dry 

matter 

N-free 
extract 

Crude 
protein 

Ether 
extract 

Crude 
ash 

Crude 
fiber 

Gross 
energy 
sm.  cal.-gm 

FIRST  EXPERIMENT 


89.63 

71.44 

10.14 

4.03 

1.47 

2.55 

92.87 

35.28 

38.82 

5.49 

4.99 

8.29 

90.61 

27.85 

45.68 

6.90 

4.66 

5.52 

89.74 

25.39 

38.87 

15.66 

4.54 

5.28 

89.83 

22.40 

39.56 

17.38 

4.57 

5.92 

Alfalfa  hay  

93.57 

43.23 

13.14 

1.64 

5.85 

29.71 

94.56 

36.61 

15.55 

3.76 

7.76 

30.88 

Soybean  straw  

94.20 

36.31 

3.75 

1.29 

3.93 

48.92 

SECOND  EXPERIMENT 


86.94 

72.18 

8.81 

2.34 

1.23 

2.38 

3825 

89.17 

36.32 

34.81 

4.44 

6.13 

7.47 

4163 

90  18 

27.93 

45.63 

7.34 

4.73 

4.55 

4447 

86.29 

22.35 

28.95 

18.86 

5.26 

10.87 

4690 

Alfalfa  hav  

84.09 

33.70 

12.91 

1.65 

5.85 

29.98 

3703 

83  66 

31.81 

9.89 

4.35 

6.24 

31.37 

3614 

78.96 

28.95 

3.07 

0.68 

3.33 

42.93 

3392 

Oat  straw  

86.20 

38.83 

5.82 

2.23 

8.27 

31.05 

3564 

Percentage  Composition  of  Refuse  from  Second  Experiment 


81.73 

27.29 

6.86 

0.82 

4.26 

42.50 

3517 

82.39 

28.07 

2.85 

0.80 

4.02 

46.65 

3504 

Soybean  straw  orts  
Oat  straw  orts  

80.58 

86.73 

26.11 

36.65 

2.77 
3.81 

0.76 
1.35 

2.67 
6.15 

48.27 
38.77 

3530 
3675 

208  BULLETIN  No.  260  [March, 

ments,  or  labor  requirements.  So  far  as  these  matters  are  concerned, 
because  of  the  great  diversity  of  conditions,  the  individual  farmer  who 
is  fattening  lambs  will  have  to  be  his  own  judge  as  to  the  desirability  of 
substituting  soybeans  for  alfalfa. 

FINANCIAL  CONSIDERATIONS 

The  phase  of  feeding  experiments  which  is  of  the  most  interest  to 
feeders  is  the  cost  of  feed  required  to  make  100  pounds  of  gain. 

Calculations  involving  feed  costs,  however,  become  quickly  out  of 
date  with  fluctuating  prices,  and  much  of  the  value  and  effectiveness  of 
the  experiments  is  lost. 

It  is  possible  by  presenting  properly  constructed  charts  instead  of 
the  usual  financial  tables,  to  give  to  the  operator  an  easy  way  of  applyr 
ing  to  the  results  of  a  feeding  experiment  any  reasonable  combination 
of  feed  prices,  so  that  he  may  fit  the  project  into  his  own  peculiar  and 
changing  conditions  and  have  a  good  basis  for  deciding  when  and 
whether  the  procedure  would  be  worth  his  following.  Such  charts  have 
been  constructed  for  the  experiments  reported  herein,  and  are  shown  as 
Figs.  1  and  2.  By  carefully  following  the  directions  given  below,  it  is 
believed  that  no  difficulty  will  be  experienced  in  their  use,  but,  on  the 
contrary,  their  advantage  will  be  recognized. 

How  TO  USE  THE  CHARTS  FOR  LOTS  1  AND  2 

The  rations  for  Lots  1  and  2  for  both  years  contained  only  two 
feeds,  and,  therefore,  the  calculation  of  feed  costs  is  very  simple. 

For  the  purpose  of  illustration,  let  us  assume  that  Lot  1  was  fed  the 
first  year  on  alfalfa  hay  costing  $25  a  ton  and  corn  costing  60  cents  a 
bushel.  To  read  the  chart  place  a  string  or  straight  edge  across  its  face, 
so  that  the  straight  edge  will  connect  points  on  the  two  outside  scales 
representing  the  assumed  prices  of  alfalfa  hay  and  of  corn  (see  line  "A" 
of  Fig.  1).  The  straight  edge  intersects  the  perpendicular  labelled  "Cost 
of  Gain,  Lot  1"  at  the  point  which  reads  $8.86.  This  then  is  what  it  cost 
to  put  100  pounds  of  gain  on  the  lambs  in  this  lot,  with  feed  at  the 
prices  assumed  above. 

For  Lot  2  of  the  first  year,  the  cost  of  100  pounds  of  gain  would  be 
indicated  by  the  point  at  which  the  straight  edge  intersects  the  upright 
scale  representing  that  lot.  For  Lots  1  and  2  of  the  second  year,  the 
chart  shown  as  Fig  2  would  be  used  in  the  same  way  that  Fig.  1  is  used 
for  the  first  year. 

How  TO  USE  THE  CHARTS  FOR  LOTS  3,  4,  5,  AND  6 

Where  three  feeds  are  used,  one  additional  step  is  necessary. 
Let  us  assume  that  Lot  3  was  fed  the  first  year  upon  soybean  straw 
at  $5  a  ton,  soybeans  at  $50  a  ton,  and  shelled  corn  at  65  cents  a  bushel. 


19251 


THE  SOYBEAN  CROP  FOR  FATTENING  WESTERN  LAMBS 


209 


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BULLETIN  No.  260 


[March, 


1925]  THE  SOYBEAN  CROP  FOR  FATTENING  WESTERN  LAMBS  211 

With  a  straight  edge,  connect  the  point  on  the  left  scale  which  represents 
$5  a  ton  for  soybean  straw,  with  that  on  the  right  scale  indicating  $50  a 
ton  for  the  supplement  (see  line  "B"  Fig.  1).  Check  the  point  where 
the  straight  edge  cuts  the  plain  perpendicular  line  labelled  "Supplement 
Lots  3,  4,  5,  and  6"  (see  point  b,  Fig.  1).  Now  shift  the  straight  edge 
so  as  to  connect  point  "b"  with  the  point  on  the  inside  of  the  right-hand 
scale  indicating  the  price  for  corn  as  65  cents  a  bushel  (see  line  "C," 
Fig.  1).  Now  read  the  point  where  the  straight  edge  cuts  the  perpen- 
dicular scale  used  to  represent  the  cost  of  gain  for  Lot  3.  In  this  case 
the  point  of  intersection  is  at  $8.08,  which  then  is  the  cost  of  the  feed 
used  to  put  100  pounds  of  gain  on  thes.e  lambs,  with  the  feeds  at  the 
prices  assumed.  In  the  same  way  the  cost  of  gain  may  be  quickly  calcu- 
lated for  the  other  lots. 

It  is  important  to  remember  that  this  order  of  locating  points  on 
the  chart  must  always  be  followed  when  three  feeds  are  used,  since  the 
construction  of  the  chart  is  based  upon  it.  The  prices  for  roughage  and 
supplement  must  first  be  connected,  and  the  point  checked  where  the 
straight  edge  intersects  the  plain  perpendicular  representing  the  lot 
under  study.  This  point  is  then  connected  by  a  straight  edge  with  the 
corn  price,  which  is  the  last  item  to  be  considered. 

Because  of  the  limitations  of  space  these  charts  cannot  be  made 
large  enough  to  show  to  the  accuracy  of  a  cent,  what  the  cost  was  of 
putting  100  pounds  of  gain  on  these  lambs,  assuming  certain  prices  for 
feeds  used.  However,  since  no  two  feeding  trials,  tho  conducted  under  as 
nearly  identical  conditions  as  possible,  would  produce  exactly  the  same 
results,  any  calculations  made  from  these  particular  experiments  would 
apply  only  approximately  to  any  other  feeding  venture.  The  figures 
resulting  from  the  use  of  these  charts  will  be  as  true  an  index  of  what 
an  operator  may  expect  under  his  own  conditions  as  would  more  exact 
figures,  and  may  be  relied  upon  as  a  useful  guide. 


Directions  for  growing  soybeans  in  Illinois,  together  with  recommenda- 
tions as  to  varieties,  will  be  found  in  Circular  255  of  this  Station.  This  circular 
will  be  sent  upon  request;  address  Illinois  Agricultural  Experiment  Station, 
Urbana. 


UNIVERSITY  OF  ILLINOIS  URBANA 


